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1566 



Congress, |^ SENATE. f Document 

iSession. j t No. 248. 



A NEW AGREEMENT WITH PANAMA. 



COMMUNICATION 

FKOM 

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 



TRANSMITTING 



A COPY OF A LETTER FROM THE ACTING SECRETARY OF STATE 
RECOMMENDING THE AUTHORIZATION OF CONGRESS TO THE 
ABROGATION OF THE SO-CALLED TAFT AGREEMENT AND THE 
NEGOTIATION OF A NEW JVGREEMENT WITH PANAMA. 



September fi, 1922. — Read; referred to the Committes on Foreign Relations and 

ordered to be printed. 



n "^ o i » I I The White House, 

/. W C^{o ^ If WasMnr/ton, Seplemher 2, 1922. 

My Dear Mr. President : I am sending to you herewith copy of 
a letter addressed to me by the Acting Secretary of State setting 
forth the desirability of terminating the present treaty arrangement 
with Panama and the negotiation of a new treaty with that Govern- 
ment. This is a matter which has been under consideration by the 
State Department for some time and the recommendation of the 
Acting Secretary has been forecasted by developing events for several 
months. It is altogether desirable that the temporary agreement 
whieh has [governed our relations with the Government of Panama be 
superseded by a new covenant. As soon as the Congress grants the 
authority to abrogate the existing agreement it will be possible to 
proceed with the negotiation which is desired on the part of both the 
Ciovernment of the Unitetl States and the Go^'(>rnmont of Panama. 
1 am addressing a like communication witli similar inclosure to the 
Speaker of the House. 

Very truly yours, 

W^ARREN G. Harding. 
Hon. Calvin Coolidge, 

Pref-ident of the United States Senate, 

Washington, D. C. 



Department of State, 
Washington, September 1, 1922. 
The President: 

In 1904 Mr. Taft, then Secretary of War, visited Panama in an 
effort to adjust certain difhculties which had arisen in connection 



A NEW AGKEEMEKT WITH PANAMA. 



r I ^ b ^ 



with the execution of the treaty of 1903 with that country. After 
discussion with the officials of the Panaman Government a temporary 
agreement was formulated to serve as a modus operandi during the 
period of the construction of the canal. This agreement was em- 
bodied in executive orders issued by the Secretary of War on Decem- 
ber 3, December 6, and December 30, 1904, January 10, 1905, and 
January 5, 1911. By the Panama Canal act of August 24, 1912 (37 
Stat. 560), these orders, together with all other orders and regulations 
promulgated in the Canal Zone by order of the President for the gov- 
ernment and sanitation of the Canal Zone and construction of the 
Panama Canal, were ratified and confirmed as valid and binding until 
Congress should otherwise provide. 

The Taft agreement was intended as a temporary arrangement to 
cover the period of construction of the canal. As such it has served 
its purpose, since the canal has for some time been formally open to 
commerce. It no longer provides an adequate basis for the adjust- 
ment of questions arising out of the relations between the Canal Zone 
authorities and the Government of Panama, and it is the opinion of 
this department, and, I am informed, of the War Department also, 
that the agreement should be replaced in the near future by a more 
permanent arrangement. 

I have the honor, therefore, to recommend that Congress be 
requested to authorize the abrogation of the executive orders above 
mentioned, which comprise the so-called Taft agreement. When this 
authorization is granted it will be possible to terminate the agreement 
with Panama and to proceed at once with the negotiation of a new 
treaty. 

Respectfully submitted. 

William Phillips, 
Acting Secretary of State. 

The President, 

The White House. 



To the Senate and House of Representatives: 

I transmit a report by the Acting Secretary of State in which he 
recommends that the Congress be requested to authorize the abroga- 
tion of the executive orders comprising the so-called Taft agreement 
with Panama. These executive orders, by the Panama Canal act of 
August 24, 1912, were confirmed as valid and binding until Congress 
should otherwise provide. Consequently it would appear that an 
act of Congress is required to abrogate them. 

I commend the request to the favorable consideration of the 
Congress, since I am convinced that the abrogation of the so-called 
Taft agreement and the negotiation with Panama of a new agreement 
in its place are advisable; but as it may be found desirable to con- 
tinue these executive orders in effect temporarily pending the con- 
clusion of the new agreement, I suggest that the authority if granted 
by Congress shall leave the time for their abrogation optional with 
the President. 

The White House, ^^ 



-, 1922. ^<^ 



O ^<^C 



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